


I Appreciate You

by EdgeLady



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Ana Amari is judging you, Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Day 3, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gabe just wants his husband to come home sometime, Jack is too tired for this shit, Jesse McCree is a Little Shit, M/M, OCs to fill out the world nothing major, Overwatch golden age, Personal Assistant Gabe, Reaper76 Week, Reaper76Week 2018, Romantic Fluff, Strike-Commander Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, gratitude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 00:21:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13446540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdgeLady/pseuds/EdgeLady
Summary: Where did Jack's Personal Assistant go and why is there a hottie sitting at that desk?For a week, Strike Commander Morrison has a situation to deal with and he has no idea why it's happening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> R76Week2018 Day 3 Prompt - Gratitude. Yes this is several days late. Perfectionism is my curse. 
> 
> Yes Gabriel is OOC, but not actually. I mean, it's on purpose. You'll see what I mean. 
> 
> Because my word count was already way higher than anticipated, I decided not to write out any explicit smut, but there are certainly some suggestive moments. Hence, the M rating. 
> 
> Timeline: Overwatch Golden Age, pre Moira, pre Genji, pre McCree losing his arm.

Jack Morrison had spent most of the night in his quarters, but that didn’t mean he’d gotten much in the way of sleep. It had been Sunday and he’d worked anyway because work didn’t stop for him even on weekends. He’d only left his office the previous night because Ana had found him and threatened to carry him to his quarters herself. In retrospect, he should have called her bluff, just for the sight of the slender second-in-command of Overwatch attempting to pick up a super soldier and cart him off. He would have called Gabe in to witness it. Gabe would have laughed his ass off.

Maybe.

Gabe didn’t laugh or smile much these days.

And actually, Gabe might not have even been in Zürich the previous night. Jack had no idea. He had trouble keeping track of his husband’s missions these days. It didn’t help that it had been two weeks since the last time he’d even _spoken_ to Gabriel by any means, because the last time they had seen each other in person they had fought and then Gabe had stormed out to sleep in his own quarters, even though the vast majority of his belongings were in the Strike Commander’s rooms.

Jack rubbed a hand across his tired eyes, hardly paying any attention at all to the quiet corridors and the few people around at this hour. Much to his frustration, he couldn’t even remember what they had argued about. These days they were both stressed over work, and while they tried not to bring their stress home, it seemed to be getting harder and harder to do.

Somewhere deep in his soul, a part of him admitted that he hated this job. He hated the never-ending stress, the piles and piles of paperwork, the constant kissing ass of this and that politician, the hours of fake smiling he had to do in front of cameras. Oh, he _believed_ wholeheartedly in what he was doing, what all of Overwatch was doing, but… well he especially hated what it was doing to his marriage. There was a chasm growing between them. He wanted Gabriel to come home. He wanted to have a reason to stop working at night and lay down in bed again.

His stomach growled and Jack sighed. He should stop by the mess and get some food, but he was well aware that he had a call in less than an hour, and he had a myriad of things that had to be taken care of before then. So he headed towards his office instead, giving a nod to passing agents who stopped to salute him as he went by.

 _I’m so tired._ Jack strode down the corridor leading to his office, idly noticing that Ana’s door was open, so he poked his head in there. “Morning, Ana,” he said, his voice deep and a touch rough.

She looked up from a report in her hand, her dark eyes twinkling merrily and she gave him a wide grin. “Good morning, Jack! You look like shit! You didn’t get any sleep last night even after I chased you out of here, did you?”

He scowled at her. “I got some sleep.” He paused as she continued grinning at him. “A little.” Her cheerful expression never wavered. “Okay, not enough, you’re right. Why are you so goddamn chipper? It’s too early for that.”

“No reason,” Ana replied, her elbows resting on her desk now and her chin propped on a hand. She continued giving him that huge-ass grin, and Jack suddenly felt suspicious. Amari was up to something. “Have a nice day today, Jack.”

He glowered at her before finally turning away and continuing down the corridor to the office at the end of the hall. He didn’t even glance at his assistant’s desk before popping off an absent-minded “Good morning” in that general direction.

“Good morning, Strike Commander,” came the reply.

Jack was in his office a few moments later, absently pulling off his long blue duster coat, when it suddenly occurred to him that the person at his assistant’s desk had not actually been Sarah. In fact, it hadn’t even been a woman. In fact…

He would have attributed his sudden thought as exhaustion, except that in that moment, in strode the person he _thought_ he’d imagined at Sarah’s desk, carrying Jack’s favorite mug, the blue one with the Overwatch logo and “#2 Boss” on it, the mug that had a small chip on the rim because Jesse McCree had clumsily dropped it in the sink once, but Jack didn’t care because Gabriel had given him that mug and he cherished it. The mug was steaming with coffee and it was set gently on his desk and he stared blankly at it for a moment.

“Black, just the way you prefer it, sir,” said the person who was not Sarah. He was carrying a stack of paper and a data pad on top of that, which he now set down on the desk before hefting the data pad. “Here are the new recruit applications, with Lieutenant Wilhelm’s annotations. And here is the agenda and notes for your 8am phone call with Prime Minister Tanaka.”

And then he turned and walked out of the office.

Jack sat at his desk for a long moment, watching the steam rising from his cup. Finally, he took a swig of coffee, deciding that caffeine was just what he needed right in that moment. It wasn’t until he felt the caffeine and warmth hit his stomach that he stood up and walked back outside to Sarah’s desk.

“Gabriel, what are you doing?” he asked.

He thought he heard Ana’s chuckle through her open door.

****

Gabriel Reyes, in all his muscular and bronze-skinned glory, was sitting at Sarah’s desk, tapping away at the keyboard, his dark eyes focused on the computer screen. “What does it look like I’m doing, Commander?” he replied calmly, no trace of sarcasm or heat.

“It looks like you’re sitting at my assistant’s desk. Where’s Sarah?” Jack demanded.

“Tahiti, hopefully,” Gabriel replied, eyes still focused on the screen. “I gave her the week off. Well technically Amari gave her the week off, since I can’t sign off on Overwatch agents PTO. But I sent her and husband to Tahiti. Their anniversary is this Wednesday.”

Jack paused. “Sarah’s anniversary? I knew her birthday was next week, but…” he said. He felt like he should have known that and a pang of guilt tore through him. He shook his head as if to clear it. “Wait… you _gave_ my assistant a week off? Without asking me? Who the hell is going to do Sarah’s job?”

There was a ping from the computer that signaled an email had just been sent out. Gabriel finally looked away from the screen to peer at him. “Why do you think I’m sitting here?” He calmly rose to his feet. “Have you eaten, Commander?”

Jack stared at him, and he found himself shaking his head. Gabriel hummed in reply and walked away from Sarah’s desk. “What the hell are you wearing?” Jack blurted out. Because instead of the usual hoodie and treasured beanie his husband normally sauntered in around the base, Gabriel was dressed way out of character. Tight dark blue dress pants, hugging his thighs and ass in all the right places, but instead of the armored boots he normally wore, he was wearing normal dress shoes, and a white dress shirt tucked neatly into his pants, and a silk golden-yellow tie that matched Overwatch’s logo, and over it all he wore a dark blue suit jacket that had said logo over the breast. Gabriel’s short-cropped dark hair, just barely long enough to be a touch curly at the tips, was neatly brushed back.

In other words, he was dressed exactly the way male administrative workers all dressed on a daily basis around HQ. And goddammit, he looked fucking good.

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder and gave him an odd look. “What should I wear, Commander? A pencil skirt and four inch heels?”

With that parting shot, he disappeared around the corner down the hall, leaving Jack standing there with his mouth agape. After a moment, Jack barged into Ana’s office, glaring at the Egyptian woman who was grinning widely at him again.

“What the _fuck_ , Ana?” Jack growled. “What is going on? Am I getting pranked?”

“Not at all, Jack,” his soon-to-be-former-second-in-command said calmly.  “We thought Sarah deserved time off for her anniversary.”

“Okay, that’s fine, but what I need is someone to replace her who will not create more work for me!” Jack shot back in reply. “You know, someone who actually knows how to do Sarah’s job? Besides, how long until Gabe gets bored of this little game and leaves me high and dry?”

Ana’s smile faded a little. “Jack, I’m disappointed in you. Do you think so little of your husband? I think you’re in for a big surprise.” She rose to her feet, gathering a data pad and a few other items, including her treasured blue beret, and headed for the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some recruits to evaluate.”

“Ana!” Jack whined, following her back out.

“Besides, I don’t know why you’re complaining. I would have thought you’d enjoy having a hot secretary at your beck and call.”

If looks could kill, Ana Amari would have been a pile of ash in that moment. But she was completely unbothered by his irritation and continued on her way. Shoulders slumping, Jack retreated to his office. He had half a mind to call down to HQ’s reception desk and have Daniela, the main receptionist, come take over for Sarah, because she’d done it before when his assistant had taken time off, so she at least knew the ropes. It would mean calling into a temp agency in Zürich to send a replacement receptionist, but at least that would fix his current problem.

He was still mulling over that possibility, standing behind his desk and absently rubbing his tense shoulder with one hand, when he noticed on his screen that a new email had arrived a few minutes earlier. It was an email thread that had started out for Sarah, from the personal assistant of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of England, asking Sarah how she and her husband were doing, and then moving on to asking to set up a conference call with the Strike Commander within the next two weeks to discuss a very important funding project. Gabriel had replied, politely letting the other assistant know that Sarah was on vacation in Tahiti this week but that yes, he’d make sure the Chief Secretary found a spot on the Strike Commander’s calendar, signing the message as simply Gabriel. This in turn was followed by a calendar invite for both Jack and the Chief Secretary for late next week. While Jack was staring at the screen, a final message arrived from the British assistant, accepting the invite and thanking Gabriel for his prompt response and asking him to tell Sarah to send pictures when she returned.

“Holy shit,” Jack muttered. “He’s fucking serious.”

So when Gabriel came in a few minutes later with breakfast for Jack _,_ the blonde had decided to play along, to see how far this would go, and mentally placing a bet with himself that Gabriel, former Commander of the Strike Team that had ended the Omnic Crisis, genius tactician, and current head of Overwatch’s black ops division, wouldn’t last more than 48 hours as Jack’s personal assistant.

“You only have twenty minutes before your call with Prime Minister Tanaka,” Gabriel said as he set the tray down. “Please eat.” Those coffee-brown dark eyes gave him a sharp look. “Knowing you, you didn’t eat last night.”

“I didn’t. I’m starving. Thank you, but it’s not in Sarah’s job description to feed me,” Jack said. He snagged a piece of scrambled egg with the fork anyway, because he really was hungry.

“I know it’s not, but she does anyway,” his husband replied. His face was expressionless, but his dark eyes belied a sense of calm. “Yell if you need anything.” He spun on his heel and walked out of the office, and Jack rather shamelessly stared at his husband’s beautifully round ass.

Which honestly, made Jack feel like a creep, even though he knew he was only looking precisely because it was his husband; he would never disrespect Sarah or any other employee that way. Now he wondered if this was some kind of prolonged foreplay. Which was not a thought he needed rolling around in his head when he had a thousand things to do.

“Asshole,” Jack grumbled after Gabriel.

****

Monday was normally a fairly uneventful day when Jack was actually in his office, and this Monday was no different. He had a ton of phone calls and a lot of email and paperwork to get through, but he was grateful that nothing catastrophic demanded his attention, because it still made him uneasy that Sarah wasn’t there. Still, from the emails that were cc’ed into his box as dozens of correspondences came through, Gabriel appeared to be doing fine. And it was surprising to Jack what a pleasant phone voice his normally gruff, grumpy husband had, because Jack kept his door open all morning and could hear phone call after phone call coming in, all of which Gabriel handled with grace, calm, and a politeness Jack would never have attributed to him.

 _He’ll be ready to explode by this afternoon,_ Jack thought to himself.

Especially when Daniela went on her lunch at 11am, and all of the main reception’s phone calls routed through to the phones for both Sarah and Ana’s own assistant, Arjun. For the next hour neither of their phones stopped ringing, because Overwatch’s main number was public and any idiot could call, and it was Daniela’s job to filter the calls to the appropriate place. Depending on whether the calls were coming through the main reception, or whether they were coming through on the direct line for the Strike Commander’s office (which was most definitely not a public number), the calls had to be handled differently. The more official calls were treated with a simple, “Strike Commander Morrison’s office, this is Gabriel.” But there was a script to answering the main reception number, a script which required the receptionist to sound overly cheerful and helpful, an absolute requirement instilled by Overwatch’s PR department.

Jack got very little actual work done during Daniela’s lunch hour, because he found himself fascinated by the sound of Gabriel answering the phone. He wondered how much of his husband’s soul was being chipped away every time he had to take a call from the main number and answer the phone with: “Thank you for calling Overwatch Headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland! We hope you are having a lovely day! This is Gabriel speaking, how may I direct your call this morning?” in an overly cheerful voice.

When the clock hit noon, the phones suddenly went silent as calls were automatically re-routed back to Daniela’s desk in the main reception. When peace had fallen over the office, Jack had to cover his mouth to contain his snicker when he heard Gabriel’s growl, “ _Thank fuck that’s over_! I need a fucking cigarette!” Ana and Arjun burst into laughter.

“Gabi, you missed your calling, you’re a wonderful receptionist,” Ana called.

“Fuck you, Ana,” came the grumbled reply. “I’m taking my lunch now.”

And judging from Ana and Arjun’s laughter once more, Gabriel had probably bolted out of there.

Jack grinned to himself. He would be surprised if Gabriel even came back from lunch, much less actually showed up tomorrow. He still had no idea what this exercise was even about, but Jack felt a little calmer about it, at least. He would get Daniela up here to replace Sarah if need be, and at the very least, this had served to be quite amusing for Jack. And he had to admit, Ana was right; the view anytime his assistant was in his line of sight was certainly very nice.

 ****

In fact, Gabriel not only came back from lunch in an hour, surprisingly calm, but he brought Jack food, because of course the Strike Commander didn’t have time to stop and get lunch for himself. The rest of Monday passed uneventfully, with plenty more phone calls for Gabriel, including having to call Overwatch’s travel agent to argue with them over a change in the Strike Commander’s hotel stay for an upcoming trip to New York. There were more emails, more scheduling and re-scheduling, lots of filing of reports that Jack had already signed and approved and that Sarah insisted on keeping paper copies of in the filing cabinet behind her desk. All the while, Jack was constantly on the phone, even as he multi-tasked and read through never-ending reports.

Really, it was all very mundane and he’d be surprised if Gabriel wasn’t bored out of his skull.

At precisely five, Arjun called out to Gabriel and Ana that he was leaving and bolted. College kid, Jack thought; must be nice to have a set schedule. But to be fair, Ana’s personal assistant had far less to deal with than Jack’s, as Ana didn’t have anywhere near the mountain of shit requiring her attention, and she spent a good chunk of her daily routine with new recruits anyway.

Jack kind of envied her. He felt like he never left this office and that someday he and Sarah were going to be found dead and buried under mountains of reports and budgetary requests and meeting minutes.

 _The US government spent how many millions making me into Captain America, and this is what I am doing_? He thought grumpily to himself at around 7:30 that evening. The phones had long since gone silent this late in the evening, but he could hear the steady tapping of the keyboard that told him that Gabriel was still out there.

A little while later Gabriel came in with a stack of papers. “Letters for you to sign, Commander,” he said, sounding tired. He placed the stack on Jack’s desk, and the blonde took a moment to flip through them quickly. Standard form rejection letters for various charities begging for Overwatch’s funding and aid. Sarah must have left them to be done.

“Sarah just signs them for me. There’s a stamp of my signature, should be in the locked part of her desk. She left you a key, right?” Jack said after a moment, waving dismissively. He didn’t have time to sign a bunch of letters to a bunch of charities he would like to help but couldn’t. He had too many important things to do, like prepare for an obnoxious emergency budget meeting tomorrow. “Sarah would know not to bother me with these,” he snapped.

Gabriel stood there, and Jack looked up just in time to see the irritation crossing his dark features, his thick eyebrows furrowed and his jaw tightening. After a moment, however, he snatched up the pile of letters and headed for the door. “Sorry. Must have missed that in her notes. I’ll take care of it.”

He was gone, and Jack felt a pang of guilt for snapping at him. All things considered, for the first day on the job, Gabriel hadn’t bothered him at all to ask any questions, although Jack had heard him ask Arjun for guidance a few times. It really wasn’t fair to take out his own exhaustion and irritation on his husband. He would never have snapped at Sarah that way.

But he didn’t get up to apologize, because he really had too much to do for the next day’s meeting. He had no idea how much time had passed before there was a light knock on his door and he looked up blearily. Gabriel stood there with his jacket folded over an arm and his shoes hanging from the fingers of his right hand, opting to walk around in plain dress socks, which in retrospect was hilarious for a man who normally stomped around in very heavy armored combat boots but apparently couldn’t handle a day in dress shoes.

“I’m heading out,” Gabriel said. He paused. “Jack… please stop working. Come home, have dinner with me, and get some decent sleep. You look exhausted.” It was the first time he’d addressed Jack by his name all day, or had said anything outside of the context of work.

For a long moment Jack longed to do exactly that. The prospect of actually sharing a meal and an evening with his estranged husband sounded so appealing. And yet Jack looked down at his notes for the meeting the next day and knew he had a long night ahead of him.

“I can’t right now,” he said finally. “I have a really important meeting tomorrow. I’ll… I’ll come home in a bit, okay?”

Gabriel said nothing, but he nodded. He spun on a heel and left.

Jack didn’t actually make it back to his quarters until about 3am, just enough to take a quick shower and get about three and a half hours of sleep before he had to be up again. Gabriel wasn’t there, although the bed looked like it had been used.

Jack wouldn’t be surprised if Gabriel didn’t show up to work in the morning.

****

Gabriel showed up for work in the morning. He was already on the phone when Jack returned to his office, although Jack was too tired to really register what the call was about. By the time Jack was seated at his desk, staring somewhat blankly at his jam-packed calendar for the day (which Gabriel had set out on a data pad for him), Gabriel’s call had ended and he came in with Jack’s coffee in his favorite chipped mug. He said good morning, didn’t seem pissed about the night before, but he did walk out pretty quickly, although he was back fifteen minutes later with Jack’s breakfast.

“You don’t need to feed me,” Jack said, his traitorous stomach growling at the sight of the tray in front of him.

“Too fucking bad, I’m doing it anyway,” Gabriel replied. He paused a moment. “Sir.” Then he left again and was back on the phone.

At precisely 8:45am, Jack had a sudden panic attack at the thought that the conference room wasn’t ready to receive the UN budget committee, because Sarah always prepared for that kind of meeting carefully and made sure not a thing was out of place. He came storming out of his office, but found Sarah’s desk empty, and he immediately turned towards Arjun, who was tapping away at his keyboard, asking the young Indian college student where Gabriel was.

“Oh, he went to make sure the conference room was ready, sir,” the young man replied, looking up with a smile.

“Are you ready to go, Jack?” Ana asked, appearing in her doorway. “Director Petras’ transport is just about here.”

“Right,” Jack muttered, returning to his office long enough to retrieve his blue duster and his data pad. Privately he prayed that Sarah had left good instructions. This was an important meeting and he couldn’t afford any fuck-ups.

At 9:15 he was walking William Petras, Under-Secretary General at the UN and Director of Overwatch, into HQ’s largest conference room. There were already a number of other important people in the room, chattering and laughing quietly while they partook in a lovely spread of bagels and pastries set out on a side table, along with several pots of coffee. The projector was already on and showing the first slide of Jack’s presentation, as it should be. And there was even a vase of fresh flowers at the center of the main conference table.

For a moment Jack was floored. Everything was exactly like Sarah would have had it, even down to the flowers. He didn’t see Gabriel anywhere though, at least not immediately.

“Where is that hot piece of ass that follows you around all the time?” Petras asked casually.

Jack couldn’t help his face twitching or his teeth grinding, because he kind of really hated William Petras and yet the man was his boss and he couldn’t exactly take him to task for such disgusting language about Sarah. “Director, that’s really not…” He started anyway.

“Right here, Director, and honestly… I’m flattered.” Gabriel strolled into the room just then. He was dressed the same as yesterday, except that today he had a more form-fitting black suit jacket with the Overwatch logo on the breast and tight black pants, and he’d picked out a red silk tie. Jesus, _fuck,_ it was unfair how hot he was, Jack thought.

Gabriel, unaware of the effect his presence was having on his Strike Commander, settled a fresh pot of coffee on the breakfast table, earning cheers from some of the other gathered members. Gabriel smiled at them before he went and joined Jack and Petras.

Petras was staring at Gabriel blankly and he looked at Jack for an explanation. “Uhh… Sarah, my usual assistant, is out this week. Gabriel is graciously helping me out.”

The older white-haired man blinked for a moment before looking back at Gabriel. “Don’t you have better shit to do than brew coffee and serve bagels?” Petras asked dryly. “Who is running that shit show downstairs if you’re up here playing secretary?”

Jack had a momentary vision of Gabriel punching Petras out right then and there, but for all that his husband’s jaw tightened, Gabriel’s hands remained clasped behind his back and he said nothing, because just then someone new swaggered into the room.

“Mornin’ everybody!” Jesse _fucking_ McCree exclaimed as he sauntered into the room, and Jack suppressed a groan. By some miracle, the cowboy had at least had the decency to trim his scruffy beard some and forego his usual serape and spurs on his boots, and he was actually wearing a white button down shirt with a decent suit jacket _and thank God he wasn’t wearing his stupid BAMF belt buckle,_ but the one thing Jesse had refused to leave behind was his goddamn Stetson. _For fuck’s sake,_ Jack thought. Oblivious, McCree made straight for the breakfast pastries and coffee, pointing a finger gun and probably a wink at an older lady who stood by the breakfast table, earning a slight blush and undignified giggle.

Petras looked away from the cowboy to glower first at Jack and then at Gabriel.

“That’s Jesse McCree—” Gabriel started calmly.

“I know who the criminal is,” Petras growled.

“—Acting Blackwatch Commander,” Gabriel finished as if he’d never been interrupted.

The Director rolled his eyes. “Of course. Only you would have a goddamn gang member as a second-in-command, Reyes.” Gabriel fell silent and Petras turned back to Jack with a sigh. “You know, I try not to involve myself much with how you’re running this organization, as long as shit gets done, Morrison. But maybe instead of playing games, you ought to be focusing on doing your job—”

Jack bristled at the implication. “With all due respect, Director, no one is playing games. McCree has proven himself to be an excellent agent, despite his age. We thought giving him a chance to prove himself in a leadership position in a controlled environment, for a short period of time, was a worthy cause. But he couldn’t do that with Commander Reyes breathing down his neck, so we shifted some things around temporarily.” Okay, so it was a load of bullshit, but sometimes in Jack’s job bullshit was an absolute art form. He could feel Gabriel’s eyes on him, but he didn’t dare look away from Petras’ scowl.

After a moment the Director snorted. “Fine.” He glanced over at the breakfast table. “And at least, if you decide to permanently promote Agent McCree, it looks like Reyes has a real future as a barista.”

 _Prick,_ Jack thought darkly as Petras walked away. He could feel the waves of hatred Gabriel was exuding now, but amazingly, his husband remained silent, at least until the Director was far enough away. “ _Pinche pendejo, hijo de puta,_ ” Gabriel muttered darkly in his ancestral tongue.

Jack found himself agreeing but he just gave Gabriel a suffering look. “You know, maybe this wasn’t the best week for you to be doing this. I might need backup during this meeting. I can tell Petras is going to fight me today.” He spoke very softly, so that only super soldier hearing could possibly pick up his words.

Gabriel snorted. “After that display, do you really think I have any sway with this crowd? Let McCree talk, I prepared him for this.” At Jack’s incredulous look, the darker man shook his head. “He’s like you, he could charm a yeti into buying ice. Just trust me on this, Jack.”

Jack shook his head and headed for the table before remembering he would probably need coffee to make it through this meeting. He started to turn, but Gabriel placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll get it, Commander. Anything to eat?”

“No, thank you. Just coffee. Gabriel… this looks really good,” Jack said, nodding at the room at large. He meant it.

His husband just nodded. “Sarah left very explicit instructions,” he replied. Then he was gone, and Jack sat down and watched him walk over to the breakfast table and politely wait for a woman to finish getting her coffee, during which she flirted with him despite the fact that she normally felt intimidated by Blackwatch Commander Reyes when he showed up for these kind of meetings brooding and silent and glaring like he normally did.

“I’m in the market for an excellent assistant, if you’re ever looking to have a change of scenery, young man,” she said loud and clear, grinning.

 _Holy shit, she doesn’t recognize him,_ Jack thought to himself, silently awed. _What a difference a change in clothes and attitude make._

Gabriel just grinned at her. “Thank you, ma’am, I’m flattered. But I’m not so certain you can afford me.”

She and several other ladies nearby tittered, and Jack caught Ana and McCree (sitting together on the end of the table from him) cover their snickers. Gabriel came back with two cups of coffee, one of which he placed in front of Jack. Then he retreated to a small desk in the corner which had a keyboard and a monitor. Sarah normally took meeting minutes and then emailed them out to all meeting participants, as well as archiving the audio in the proper place on Athena’s servers.

But then the meeting was starting and Jack had no more time to think about it because he _had_ to convince these people to provide extra emergency funding for Blackwatch and Overwatch’s science division. Petras gave him a hard time, and Jack patiently and persistently explained why the next few planned missions were so necessary. Jack needed backup desperately and he glanced at Gabriel, who gave him a slight nod. With a sigh, Jack invited McCree to speak on behalf of Blackwatch. He winced when the young man stood up, holding his hat in hand. The minute he opened his mouth, Jack noticed his Southern drawl was much less pronounced, but still there in subtlety. He talked about a child trafficking ring that Blackwatch had been pursuing and was so close to shutting down, and this was the right audience, because there were enough women in the room to draw sympathy about the plight of enslaved children.

The whole time Jesse was talking, Jack was thinking about what a bucket of bullshit the kid was selling. The trafficking op was already under way, which meant it was already funded, but they didn’t need to know that. No one in the room was stupid, these people were all part of the UN in some form, and they knew what ‘black ops’ meant. But McCree talking about busting a trafficking ring would let everyone vote with a clean conscience, safe in the knowledge that for today, at least, Blackwatch was saving babies. The Director looked like he’d swallowed a lemon, but he didn’t speak because most Blackwatch operations were far more classified than the majority of the room were cleared to know about.

Jack was silently awed by the sheer audacity quietly on display here by Gabriel Reyes, who had prepared McCree for this… and as usual, Gabriel excelled at utilizing his people’s best talents. He’d even known that Petras couldn’t say a goddamn word about it either. Jack shot his husband a wry look, and as if feeling the weight of his stare, Gabriel looked up, gave him that signature shit-eating Reyes grin and a little bit of a shrug before looking back at his monitor.

Next up came the argument about the science division’s request for extra funding for Dr. Zhou’s expedition to Antarctica. Unfortunately for her, she was following McCree’s act. The timid Chinese scientist spoke about the work she was doing and why it was important, but she lacked Jesse’s boyish charm. Besides, science funding was always a harder sell. Jack spoke passionately about Dr. Zhou’s project himself, but he kind of felt this one was a loss. Shit, maybe he needed to get Gabriel to prep people for all future budget requests.

The council narrowly passed Blackwatch’s request for emergency funding, but denied the sciences. Dr. Zhou looked crushed. Before the meeting was over Jack was already mulling over where he was going to look for outside funding for her, and he had a few ideas that just might work. Such was a familiar dance in his line of work.

Jack had to escort Petras back to his transport, but he noticed before he left the conference room that Gabriel and Jesse were talking to Dr. Zhou, and that she looked a little more hopeful. Jack’s fine hearing picked up some of what Gabriel was telling her: _the sciences always get pissed on by this crowd… don’t worry, Mei, Jack will find a way. He always does._

****

He found a way, but it took hours and many phone calls and lots of cajoling and the promise of exclusive first rights to new Overwatch tech. He went home late again on Tuesday night, despite his husband once again asking him to go to dinner and come home. Exhausted, Jack was in a shitty mood when he went to bed—which he noted wasn’t slept in at all this time—and he was in an even shittier mood when he woke up the next day, especially since the minute he opened his eyes he had a headache.

As usual Gabriel brought him coffee and breakfast and then retreated, while Jack was buried in paperwork all morning, suffocating on it all when at 8:45am Athena warned him of an upcoming conference call. Jack blinked owlishly at the screen for a moment and then looked around the desktop. He’d kind of forgotten that he’d arranged for this call late last night.

“Gabriel!” he shouted a few minutes later as he stormed out of his office.

Gabriel glanced at him, but didn’t do anything but hold up a finger, and after a moment Jack realized he was on the phone, the earpiece in his left ear glowing blue to indicate it was on. It took a few minutes before Gabriel disconnected. “Sir, that was—” Gabriel started.

“Don’t care,” Jack interrupted angrily. “I have a conference call with the Prime Minister of India in ten minutes. Where is my prep for this meeting?”

Gabriel stared blankly at him. “…uhh...” Meaning, he hadn’t even known about the call.

“I’d think this one is kind of important for you, since it’s Blackwatch related,” Jack said, feeling his headache becoming worse.

“Okay, if you just tell me what you nee—”

“I _need_ ed this shit done long before now! You’re supposed to look at the calendar every morning!” Jack snapped. “Forget it, I’ll deal with it. There were errors in the meeting minutes yesterday but you already sent them out. Fix them and resend them out with a goddamn apology. Petras noticed and he’s giving me grief about it. I emailed you last night about scheduling a meeting with Winston ASAP, but I’ve yet to see that happen. I have a media shit show on Friday and I should have the speech already from PR so that I can practice it, get Kareem on the goddamn phone and find out where it is! Sarah would have needled it out of PR back on Monday!” His voice had been steadily rising as he listed off his grievances and frustrations. “Get this crap done now, Gabriel, and get it done right!” The last he all but shouted, before he spun on his heel and stormed back into his office, the door hissing shut behind him.

By the time he threw himself indelicately into his chair, he could _feel_ Ana’s judging stare from all the way in her office, through his closed door.

Gabriel didn’t bring him lunch that day. Although Jack did notice that he had a meeting scheduled with Winston tomorrow, and his speech for Friday appeared in his inbox within an hour with apologies from Kareem down in PR about the delay. And Jack also noticed the meeting minutes were resent out, corrected and with a very business-like apology attached for the errors, before lunch. The meeting with the Prime Minister of India went without a hitch and Jack called down to Gabriel’s office to talk to McCree about it. He saw plenty of emails indicating Gabriel was still working away out there, and he had a couple of phone calls patched in to him. At 4:30 Gabriel called him briefly to let him know that Acting Blackwatch Commander McCree was here to see him. McCree wanted to discuss the op in India which had mobilized that morning as soon as Jack had called him about it.

Jack hadn’t emerged from his office all day, buried in reports and budgetary matters, and also maybe his own guilt. But a few minutes after McCree left, Jack finally walked out. Arjun was gone, of course, but surprisingly so was Gabriel. Sarah’s terminal was locked, indicating he’d left for the day. Jack stood for several minutes contemplating his own surprise at this turn of events. Jack supposed he shouldn’t be, especially after the rather public dressing down Gabriel had received that morning.

“He left for the day,” Ana called from her office just then. “With McCree.”

“With McCree?” Jack echoed dully, standing now in her doorway.

Ana nodded. She wasn’t wearing her head scarf, her raven-black hair pulled back in a messy loose braid. “Yes. Jesse asked him if he wanted to go into town to get dinner and drinks. I think he must have seen how stressed Gabriel looked.”

Jack shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and absently ran his hand through his golden, fading hair. “Uhh. Hmm,” he replied intelligently. Ana stared at him for a few moments longer, and Jack all but crumbled under her judgment. “Look, I was really stressed this morning, and I shouldn’t have yelled, but I was frustrated and I had a headache and—” Jack started babbling suddenly.

“Jack,” Ana interrupted quietly. She might as well have shouted, for all the power behind the way she intoned his name and the way he was instantly silenced. “Have you not talked to him yet?”

Jack shifted his weight again. “About?”

“Why he’s doing this?” She inclined her head slightly to the side. “You haven’t, have you?”

“Well… I haven’t really had the chance.”

Ana gave him an incredulous look. “John Jack Morrison, your husband has literally been sitting outside your office for twelve hours a day for the past three days, except today it was eight because you lost your cool. But in all that time, you’ve had him at your beck and call and could have pulled him into your office at any time.”

Jack licked his lips nervously and looked down at his feet. “I’ve been swamped…”

Ana made a disgusted noise. She was exhuming clouds of disappointment and goddamn it, he _hated_ Disappointed Mom Ana.

“He asked me to dinner and to come home both Monday and Tuesday,” Jack blurted. “And I… I said no both times. He wasn’t there when I got home late those nights.”

Ana let out a sigh. “And he didn’t ask you again tonight.”

“No.”

“Jack. I think we both know he won’t ask you again. So now it’s your turn to make things right.”

“You could just tell me why he’s doing this. I thought it was a joke, a prank. But other than a couple of things that were honest mistakes any new assistant would have made, he’s done a great job, and he’s stuck with it longer than I thought,” Jack said. “I don’t understand. Was it just to give Sarah a break?”

“I’m not going to just give you the answer,” Ana said. She rose to her feet. “You need to want to find out for yourself.” She was gathering her things now. “You might want to head home early tonight, and you know, think about things. And maybe he’ll come home tonight so you can talk.”

 _Probably not,_ Jack thought bitterly. But he just nodded at her and bid her a good evening.

****

He didn’t go home until after 8pm that night anyway, choosing to remain in his silent and lonely office and finish up a few things. But 8pm was better than 3am like the past few nights, he supposed. His quarters were unoccupied, not surprisingly, and he wondered if Jesse and Gabriel were getting drunk right now, and he also wondered, with a pang, if Jesse had taken Gabriel to that gay strip club in town. It wasn’t that he was jealous, because he wasn’t going to begrudge his husband having fun, or looking at other men, especially when their marriage was becoming distant.

No, it wasn’t jealousy. It was more like… longing. To have Gabriel look at him with want again, like he used to in their SEP days and during the Crisis. Like he had the day they’d gotten married in a quiet but pretty ceremony in Los Angeles right after the Crisis had ended.

Jack took a shower and threw himself on the couch, turning on the vid feed and putting on a sports game that he promptly ignored. He wore nothing but pajama pants, staring up at the ceiling absently and thinking about how fucking hot Gabriel had looked the past few days, and how he’d smirked at the dumb old ladies who never realized they’d been flirting with the same man they found terribly intimidating and frightening on a regular basis. Idly, he spun the plain golden band on his left ring finger, playing with it as he thought. He sighed at the thought of that smooth buttery voice used for phone calls, a voice Jack could now only ever recall having heard a couple of times, he realized. During long Blackwatch missions where Gabriel had been gone for weeks, there had been a few times when Gabriel had been able to sneak a phone call in to whisper sweet nothings and dirty talk to Jack.

 _Oh my fucking god, he’s been using his phone sex voice this whole week, and I haven’t even noticed,_ Jack thought with sudden horror. How could he not have realized? How could he have been so fucking clueless? How could he have been so careless?

Ana was right to call him an idiot. The way he’d dressed, the meals he’d brought without asking, the voice and tone he’d been using, the invites to dinner and the quiet requests to come home… Gabriel had been _wooing_ him all week, and Jack had completely missed it.

Gabriel Reyes was not a man known for subtly, so in all honesty, this was a surprising turn of events. But considering how they’d been drifting apart, maybe Gabriel had decided that trying something new would bring a spark back, gain Jack’s attention.

 _Fuck. I don’t deserve him,_ Jack thought as a wave of self-loathing washed over him. _I’ll make it better. As soon as he gets home. We’ll talk._

Gabriel didn’t come home that night. Jack fell asleep on the couch in just his pajama pants. Although he did, oddly enough, wake up in the morning to find the vid feed off, and a blanket draped over him.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can their relationship survive this week?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love scenes incoming! No explicit smut though.

Jack wasn’t surprised to find Sarah’s desk empty on Thursday morning. With a resigned sigh and the knowledge that he’d fucked things up beyond repair Jack retreated to his office. He couldn’t even muster up enough care to call Daniela to have her cover for Sarah. Fuck it, he could survive for a day without an assistant. Such would be his penance.

But no sooner had he decided that when the door to his office opened and Gabriel walked in with a breakfast tray, and his favorite chipped mug of coffee. Jack blinked at him in surprise as the items were set down on his desk.

“You left your mug on the desk last night, and it needed cleaning out. Figured I’d just get your breakfast at the same time too,” Gabriel said calmly, as if yesterday hadn’t been a totally shitty day. If he meant to say anything else, or linger, there was a ding and his earpiece lit up, indicating a call was coming in. “Fuck me, I’ve been here for half an hour and the phone’s been ringing off the hook. Excuse me.” He walked out to take the call, tapping the earpiece as he closed Jack’s door to minimize the noise of his chatting on the phone.

Jack stared first at his door, then down at his breakfast. After a moment he started eating, but slowly, only absently picking at his eggs and bacon. With his enhanced super soldier hearing, he listened through the door until he heard Gabriel hang up the call, and then Jack tapped on the intercom. “Gabriel, could you come in here, please?”

“Give me a few minutes, Commander,” came the reply. Sure enough, it was about ten minutes before Gabriel came in, a data pad in hand. Before Jack could say a word, his husband set down the pad in front of him and started talking. “The agenda and your notes for the department meeting later this morning, sir. I’ve put out a call to make sure your jet is ready for your trip tomorrow, I’ve confirmed the hotel reservation at the Ritz in New York, and your suit, tuxedo, and uniform will be back from the dry cleaner later this afternoon. I’ll be sure they make it onto the jet before I leave tonight. Kareem sent an updated copy of your speech with the changes you requested. And the New York City Mayor’s office has made a last minute request to have you appear at a charity function on Saturday evening for New York orphanages, and while technically your schedule is open, it’s kind of shitty of them to make such a late request, so what would you like me to tell them?”

Jack blinked at this onslaught of information and took a moment to process it all. “Great,” he said finally. “Uggh… the charity thing… is it actually visiting an orphanage with actual children in it? Or is it a fancy dinner with a bunch of rich assholes patting themselves on the back for all the tax-deductible money they’ve graciously had their personal accountants calculate to the dollar as a good way to swindle Uncle Sam?”

Gabriel chuckled. “The latter.”

“Well, fuck ‘em, then.”

“Can I quote you on that, Commander?”

“No.”

They both laughed and it felt good. When was the last time they’d had a moment like this? Jack nibbled on a piece of bacon and his eyes slid over Gabriel’s hourglass figure, which today was wrapped in yet another perfect fucking suit, this one dark grey with a dark blue tie. _God, this is so unfair. I want to rip his clothes off, but I have so much stupid work to do._ When Jack’s eyes roamed back up, he noticed his husband smirking at him, and he wondered just how much want was written on his face just then. He felt his cheeks getting warm.

“You don’t have to stand. Sit down,” Jack said finally, motioning to the chair across the desk from him. There was a ding and Gabriel’s earpiece lit up. “Forward that to Arjun, so we can talk.” Gabriel sat down, making an adjustment on the earpiece that did just that. Jack pushed his food tray across the desk. “Did you eat breakfast? Have some.”

“I ate.” But Gabriel snagged a strawberry out of the fruit bowl anyway, because he loved strawberries. Jack absently thought he ought to have his assistant order up some chocolate-covered berries from that amazing confectioner shop in downtown Zürich as a gift for his husband, and he almost tapped out an email to Sarah right there, before his brain finally caught up.

Jack cleared his throat. “Uhh… about yesterday. I’m sorry for being an asshole.”

Gabriel shrugged. “It’s ok. You’re stressed out.”

 _Like, all the time._ But Jack didn’t say that out loud. Instead he shook his head. “I am, but I shouldn’t take it out on you. It’s not ok. Not here. And not at home.” Gabriel said nothing, and Jack wanted to ask him why he’d put up with Jack’s bullshit all week. But instead of asking the question that Ana insisted he ought to ask, Jack heard himself say something else entirely. “Listen, Sarah would normally go to this conference in New York with me.”

Gabriel gave him a curious look. “Does that mean you want me to go with you tomorrow?”

“Sarah sent you an invite a couple of weeks ago anyway, as Blackwatch Commander, didn’t she? It’s up to you if you want McCree to go as well,” Jack replied.

Gabriel considered that for a moment. “Well, I’m covering Sarah all week, and that includes Friday. Since Agent McCree is being evaluated for his leadership skills this week—" Jack snorted at that. "—I’ll tell him to be ready to go tomorrow. And I’ll call the Ritz to get the ingrate a room.”

“Make sure he has a suit for tomorrow and a tux, the gala tomorrow night is black tie. And tell him he can’t wear his stupid hat!” Jack added. He paused. “Make sure you have a tux as well.”

Gabriel smiled at him. “Is that your way of inviting me for an evening out tomorrow?”

“I wish. The gala still means rubbing elbows with politicians and the like. But Sarah would be going, as a formality. You don't have to do anything while there, though. ”

Gabriel nodded. “Okay, I’ll make sure the cowboy and I are civilized. Was there anything else, Commander?”

Another ding, another phone call coming in, and they could hear that Arjun was still busy on his own call outside, so Jack shook his head. “That’s all for now,” he said quietly. He watched as Gabriel nodded, bounced to his feet, and headed out the door, already answering the call with a cheerful, “Strike Commander Morrison’s office, this is Gabriel!”

****

Overwatch Department Head Meetings were nowhere near as formal as Jack’s other meetings. They were boring, yes, but at least he didn’t have to kiss anyone’s ass and he could relax a little bit. Gabriel accompanied him once again, because this was one of those meetings that Sarah took the minutes for, and as they neared the smaller conference room, they could hear laughter, followed by Torbjörn jokingly commenting that rumor had it that there were riots about to begin down in the Blackwatch section of the base due to McCree’s dictatorship.

“Shee-it,” McCree drawled just as Jack and Gabriel entered the room. The cowboy was in his usual get-up today, including the spurs on his boots and the BAMF belt buckle he treasured, but oddly he was wearing a dark hoodie with the Blackwatch logo on his breast. His feet were up on the table top. “Those whiners are just complainin’ cuz they can’t handle drills to the sound of Hank Williams. Tomorrow they’ll be runnin’ laps to ‘Chattahoochee’ on repeat, just you wait and see!”

There were more chuckles at this. “I know you Blackwatch folks are hardcore, but don’t you think subjecting your own agents to nonstop country music is particularly cruel and unusual punishment?” Kareem, Overwatch’s Press Secretary and head of the PR department, asked.

Jesse gave the man a huge grin. “Well, now, see my old boss, the very man who made me the amazing Blackwatch Commander I am today—” There were titters and more than a few looks shot at Gabriel, who rolled his eyes in response. “—he had a saying that really stuck with me, and it goes like this.” McCree yanked his feet off the table and sat up, obtaining a scowl on his face and placing a hand on top of his cowboy hat. “ _That which doesn’t kill you_ —” His voice had dropped into a deep growling timbre that was a pretty good impression of grumpy edgy Gabriel. He whipped off the cowboy hat to reveal the black beanie underneath that was valiantly attempting to hold in all of his scruffy brown hair. “— _makes you stronger._ ” The fact that he was wearing a Blackwatch hoodie suddenly made a lot more sense.

The room erupted into howls of laughter and Ana looked like she might cry. Reinhardt about fell out of his chair, and Winston looked back and forth between all the humans with a slightly awkward grin on his face, as if he wasn’t quite sure why imitating the actual Blackwatch Commander was so funny. Jack couldn’t remember the last time he’d genuinely laughed this hard.

“You are in so much fucking trouble when I’m back downstairs, McCree,” Gabriel growled, but he wasn't actually pissed off. The cowboy just gave him a shit-eating grin and set his Stetson on the table, apparently deciding that he would just keep the beanie on for the duration of the meeting in the spirit of acting like the Blackwatch Commander, which only made Angela Ziegler burst into giggles every time she looked at him.

Honestly, only Reyes’ precious protégé could get away with teasing him like this, Jack thought, shaking his head. Jack wasn’t jealous.  

Well, maybe Jack was a _little_ jealous, but not because of any perception of romance; it was more that he felt like Gabriel had a happier and less stressful relationship overall with Jesse than with his husband.

The good mood persisted through the meeting, making it more pleasant than usual to get through business, and Jack was still smiling to himself as he hurried back towards his office, Gabriel at his heels. It was almost 11am which meant the phones were about to erupt, but Jack had Gabriel follow him into his office. “I have a thing in Zürich today, some local news interview.”

“I saw it on your calendar,” Gabriel replied, nodding. “Do I need to come with?”

“No, Kareem is sending his assistant with me. I have a ton of things I need you to do, since we will be out tomorrow, so take some notes. Today’s meeting minutes have to go out ASAP, and I’ve approved Ana and Reinhardt’s recommendations for new recruits so I need you to get the list from her and get the acceptance and rejection letters prepared, but I do prefer to sign those by hand myself. Also, she has a few recruits she thinks might be a better fit with Blackwatch, so get those from her and… I guess send them to yourself. We need to follow up with Dr. Zhou and Winston about her expedition; I firmed up some private funding for that. Try to find a spot on my calendar next week for me to meet with them. Let’s see… call the florist in Zürich and see about getting some roses delivered for Sarah’s birthday next Wednesday. And call the confectioner—” Jack had been absently rattling off things but he caught himself in time.

“Call the confectioner’s shop?” Gabriel prodded, raising his brows.

“No, nevermind that,” Jack replied. He was back behind his desk by then and he clasped his hands in front of him and rattled off several more things he needed Gabriel to take care of while he was gone. When he finally shooed his husband out of the office, the phones had started ringing off the hook. Jack popped up the messenger app on his computer and patiently waited for a response, which didn’t happen for a few minutes, until one of the current calls out there finished.

 _Sir?_ Arjun responded finally.

_I need you to arrange for something to be delivered to my room at the Ritz in New York tomorrow night._

****

Jack returned to his office in the late afternoon, tired and a little annoyed at how long the interview in Zürich had taken. At least Kareem’s assistant had insisted he eat something, since Jack had left the office right about lunch time (without eating of course). It was a little odd, since the PR people didn’t normally hound Jack about taking care of himself like his own people did, but then he found out that Gabriel had sent the assistant a message asking that she make sure Jack had lunch.

Jack couldn’t help the warmth that blossomed in his chest at that.

As he rounded the corner that led to his office, he immediately noticed that Arjun’s desk was empty. Right, Arjun normally left at 4pm on Thursdays because of an earlier class. Gabriel wasn’t at his desk either, but Jack’s office door was open and the light was on. Jack glanced into Ana’s office and noticed she was gone too. He headed into his and paused just within, watching Gabriel sort some letters into two neat stacks on Jack’s desk. Gabriel had taken his jacket off, draped it across a chair, and was currently standing behind the desk. He must have heard Jack’s approach, because he looked up and then glanced at the digital world clock that projected on the far wall of the office, just above the many projections of newscasts from around the world, as well as a few projections of maps that marked current Overwatch and Blackwatch watchpoints.

“Longest interview ever, Jack,” he said with a yawn.

“Yeah. Technical difficulties.” During which Jack had been bored and he’d spent entirely too long contemplating how unfairly hot his husband was and how tired he was of not having time to enjoy that. But he didn’t say that aloud.

Jack walked further into the office, pausing to hit the side panel and shut the door. Gabriel looked up from the letters he was sorting and gave him a curious look as Jack wandered over to him. “But at least me being gone meant I wasn’t here to keep stacking work on you.”

Gabriel grinned. “That’s true. I did get everything you wanted done. And a few other things off Sarah’s to-do list.” He put down the stack of letters in his hand but didn’t turn when Jack sidled up beside him, instead opting to watch the blonde out of the corner of his eye. “Can I help you, sir?”

“I sure hope so,” Jack murmured, wrapping an arm around Gabriel’s waist and resting that hand on his thigh. Gabriel instinctively shifted, pressing his hip against Jack, even as Jack’s free hand reached up to gently pull on his tie, making the darker man turn towards him.

“I don’t think this is very professional conduct, Commander,” Gabriel deadpanned.

“That’s rich, coming from the man who has strolled in here in the middle of my busy day, all but demanding a blowjob. Or demanding to give me one,” Jack replied. He loosened the tie.

“Okay, first of all, that was Blackwatch Commander Reyes, not Personal Assistant Gabriel,” came the saucy reply. “ _Totally_ different.”

“Totally different?” Jack echoed with an astonished laugh. “Explain that one to me.” He gently pulled the tie free now, and undid the first three buttons of his shirt, revealing the bronze skin beneath. He didn’t wait for an answer. He pressed a searing hot kiss on his husband’s lips and felt the other man respond in kind. Jack loved the prickly feel of Gabriel’s beard against his own smooth skin.

When they finally broke apart, Gabriel grinned. “Totally different. Personal Assistant Gabriel is your subordinate.”

Jack grinned back and shifted them both so that Gabriel’s back was against the desk and Jack was pressing against him, both of them very much aware of the other’s hardness. “Well, I suppose that’s true,” the blonde said. “I have had a really hot secretary sitting outside my office all week. Making me crazy with the way you’re dressed…”

“Way to turn this into a porn cliché, Jack. And I am literally dressed like 100 other men in the building.”

“Yes but those 100 men aren’t you,” Jack replied, sliding a hand down to squeeze that fine ass he’d been admiring all week. He trailed small hot kisses down Gabriel’s face and throat and stopped to suck a bruise on his neck that probably wouldn’t be healed by the time they got to New York tomorrow but neither of them cared. Gabriel moaned softly. “And then there’s the voice you’ve been using on the phone. Goddamn sexy voice…”

As if on cue there was a ding and Gabriel’s earpiece lit up, and he actually started to reach for it, probably out of habit. Jack yanked it off and flung it carelessly aside. “They can leave a message.”

Gabriel laughed, a sound which quickly faded into a gasp and a throaty moan when Jack impatiently tore open his dress shirt the rest of the way and then immediately began sucking and biting at a nipple. “Fuck, Jack!” He arched his back, sliding one hand through Jack’s blonde hair, the other falling back against the desk for balance. The movement caused a shift in the stacks of crap on Jack’s desk, sending papers and data pads flying, none of which concerned Jack in the least at that moment.

“Tell me what you want,” Jack whispered, even as his hands explored the body he’d missed so much these past few weeks.

“I want you…” Gabriel was interrupted by his own groaning as Jack’s fingers ghosted teasingly across the front of his tented pants. “I… want you… to fuck me…”

“I was hoping you would say that.”

 ****

“I’m still reporting you to HR,” Gabriel grumbled as he surveyed the mess across both Jack’s desk and on the floor of the office. “I’m going to have to redo all of these letters!” The various recruitment letters were scattered around, some crinkled, some torn, others… sticky.

Jack, just then finishing putting himself back together, grinned at him. “It’s a good thing HR already knows we’re married, then. Besides, I don’t recall you complaining. I do, however, recall a lot of moaning, my name being chanted, you finding your religion, and while my Spanish might be a little rusty, pretty sure there were some ‘Harder’ and ‘Faster’ commands in there.”

Gabriel visibly huffed before he bent down to pick up the stacks of ruined paper, but Jack could tell he was trying not to laugh. The now-useless letters were tossed in the wastebasket before Gabriel walked back outside to Sarah’s desk. Since Jack had popped a good amount of the buttons off his dress shirt, Gabriel had put his jacket back on and buttoned it, but he didn’t bother with his tie, which was still on Jack’s desk currently. Jack picked it up and draped it loosely around his own neck before he went back to re-organizing his desk.

Jack felt so much better than he had all week, which made it easier to focus on the ten thousand things vying for his attention before he had to travel tomorrow. He didn’t know how much time had passed before Gabriel came back in with a fresh stack of the recruitment letters.

“Can we go home now?” Gabriel asked as he placed them on Jack’s desk. “I’m getting hungry.”

“For food? Or something else?” Jack replied without looking up from his monitor.

“ _Por qué no los dos_?” came the amused reply.

Jack looked up with a tired smile. “I wish. I hadn’t planned on being gone all afternoon, and I have to get some of this done before we leave for New York.” He covered a yawn and looked back at his monitor.

There was a momentary silence and the air between them was suddenly much colder. “You’re staying here late again?” The question was asked in a completely emotionless voice, which honestly, was worse than Gabriel’s growling pissy voice.

Jack felt himself automatically bristling, but he kept his own voice even as he looked back up at his husband, whose dark eyes were suddenly stormy. A distant part of Jack thought that it was mildly fascinating how bipolar their relationship was these days, and that it didn’t used to be that way. Ironically enough, things had been so much easier in the middle of a war for humanity’s survival. “I kind of have to, Gabe,” he replied.

For a moment he thought Gabriel was going to start yelling. But much to his surprise, Jack’s husband instead let out a sigh, grabbed his tie from around Jack’s neck and yanked it off, turned on his heel, and walked back out of the office. Jack contemplated that for a long moment, wondering why that bothered him far more than a shouting match would have. He could almost feel Ana judging him from wherever she was.

He bounced to his feet and all but ran for the door, and was relieved to find that Gabriel was still there, just then getting up from Sarah’s chair after having locked her terminal. Jack was sure that if he had waited thirty seconds longer, he would have missed him entirely.

“How about a compromise?” Jack said quickly, blocking the way out from behind Sarah’s desk. Gabriel’s thick brows were furrowed and his face was back in its normal somewhat pissed-off expression that most of Overwatch associated with the Blackwatch Commander, and when he focused on Jack, those dark eyes were cold. _He’s given up,_ Jack realized quite suddenly. _This game is over right now if I don’t do something._ “How about we put in another three or four hours and you help me knock out the most important of this shit? Then we go home, and finish the rest of this on the flight tomorrow.”

Gabriel mulled that over a moment, his expression easing back towards neutral now. “Counter proposal,” he said finally. “You work for three hours. I work for two and help you. Then at 7 I go and start on dinner. At 8 you stop working. It takes no more than ten minutes to walk to your quarters from here, so at 8:10 and not a minute later, you’re walking through the door to sit down for dinner. We go to bed, we get some rest, get up early to knock out more of this crap before the flight, and deal with the rest on the way to New York.”

Jack let out a deep breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. “You want to make me dinner?” he asked.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I’ve been trying to all week, but you won’t let me, _idiota_. And by the way, when are you going to cut this shit out and start taking care of yourself? I swear you wouldn’t have eaten at all if I hadn’t brought you breakfast and lunch all week, and I know you haven’t been eating dinner. What the fuck, Jack. We’re super soldiers. We need more calories, not less.”

Jack frowned. “I don’t not eat, you know. I have granola and protein bars in my office.” He huffed at the incredulous look Gabriel gave him. “Fine. I accept your proposal. Athena!” There was a beep of acknowledgement from the AI from somewhere above their heads. “Make a note to remind me to stop working at 8pm on the dot.”

“Done, Commander,” the AI responded.

“Actually, Athena, remind him at 7:30, then again at 7:45, and then at 8, and probably every two minutes thereafter,” Gabriel said.

There was a pause. “I shall, Commander Reyes,” came the reply, and Jack could have sworn Athena sounded faintly amused.

“You make it sound like I need babysitting,” Jack groused as he headed back into his office. He chose to ignore the incredulous snort from his husband, who was following him.

A few hours later, after Athena rather insistently reminded him it was 8pm and then 8:05, and then 8:09, Jack had to dash through the empty corridors of the base, and he burst through the doors of his quarters at exactly 8:11pm, grateful that he could run faster than the average human without even breaking a sweat. He was instantly assaulted by delicious smells wafting throughout the apartment, and he gave a deep sigh of satisfaction as he strode into the kitchen. They didn’t have a dining room, per se, but the kitchen area was large enough to harbor a four-person table, upon which a bottle of red wine and two crystal flutes waited, as well as the vase of flowers that had originally been present at the budget meeting earlier in the week, accompanied by a couple of lit red candles.

“You’re late,” Gabriel said without any heat in his voice. Dressed in a black tank top and plain black sweats, he was just then serving dinner, the smell of which was making Jack’s mouth water and he realized just then how goddamn hungry he was. Gabriel didn’t have much time for home cooking, but when he did, he whipped out his grandmother’s recipes from some secret vault Jack was certain he had down in the Blackwatch section of the base, and made with the magic. At least, it was magic to Jack, whose super power in the kitchen was burning water. “Sit down, Jack.”

Jack shed his duster, tossing it side carelessly in the general direction of the couch in the living room, before he sat down, just as Gabriel came over with a plate. Jack took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of spices. Green chile chicken enchiladas, fresh guacamole and salsa, and what were probably store-bought tortilla chips (since making them fresh would have taken much longer than he had time for), although where in fucking Switzerland Gabriel had found tortilla chips, he had no idea. Either way, Jack dug in with gusto.

“God, this is so good, Gabe. Fucking marry me,” Jack groaned.

“I already did, _amorcito_ ,” Gabriel replied with a chuckle.

They talked about everything and nothing, although Jack avoided the subject of this week and the fight they’d had weeks ago. Jack had a full second serving of enchiladas because they were so good, before they retreated to digest on the couch while they put some movie on that they promptly ignored in favor of cuddling and making out. That didn’t really lead to anything, though, because for the first time in forever Jack was relaxing, and he ended up falling asleep with his head resting on Gabriel’s chest, lulled by the sound of his heart beating and by the hand gently carding through his blonde hair. He only woke up briefly when he felt himself being lifted up in a princess carry, and thank God for super soldier strength, because it was nice not to have to walk into the bedroom on his own. He was conscious only long enough to snuggle deeper into his husband’s embrace as they settled into bed.

Jack woke up from a deep sleep in what must have been the wee hours of the morning, sporting quite the impressive morning wood and finding that it was already sliding into Gabriel’s mouth.

There were certainly worse ways to wake up, he thought as his fingers pulled through the dark curly hair on his husband’s head and he heard himself moan loudly.

Like alone. Waking up alone was definitely the worst.

 ****

After Arjun, holding down the fort back in Zürich, had forwarded no less than four important dignitary calls to Gabriel’s phone, McCree was staring at his commanding officer as if he’d grown a second head. By this point, they’d been in the air for hours, the Strike Commander’s private jet somewhere over the Atlantic, and Jesse had been silently watching Gabriel and Jack working with a growing expression of fascination mixed with horror. Ana was curled up on her end of the comfortable seats, reading a book on her tablet, but Jack was pretty sure she was also surreptitiously watching, because every time he glanced at her, she had a bit of a smirk on her face.

Arjun would shoot off a warning message to Gabriel when a call was going to be transferred (and he was only forwarding really important political calls, fielding the rest himself), but Gabriel still answered them as if he were back at the office: “Strike Commander Morrison’s office, this is Gabriel.” With the fourth call, he ended up slipping into pretty decent Japanese, greeting Prime Minister Tanaka pleasantly (and genuinely, Jack knew, because Tanaka was one of the few politicians Gabriel actually liked) and at one point saying, “Yes, this is _that_ Gabriel,” and everyone in the main cabin heard Yuri Tanaka give a delighted exclamation over the earpiece, followed by an apparent question, to which came the reply, “ _Hai, Tanaka-san,_ I’ll be in New York as well.” There was a little bit more chatter in Japanese before the call was transferred to Jack.

It wasn’t until Jack hung up on the call that McCree finally reacted. Gabriel was hunched over, typing away at his tablet with a portable keyboard, but he paused when Jesse reached over and snapped his fingers a few times in front of Gabriel’s face.

“ _Jefe,_ are you in there? Blink twice if you’re trapped inside this shell and need help.”

Ana laughed.

Gabriel shoved Jesse’s hand away. “Shut the fuck up, _pendejo._ ”

McCree let out a relieved sigh. “Oh my god, you are there. I was worried you’d been replaced by an alien or something! I ain’t ever heard you talk like that, even when you get phone calls in your office!”

He received a familiar Reyes glower, which only seemed to further ease Jesse’s concerns as he relaxed and leaned back in his seat, casually adjusting his cowboy hat. “You been talking and smiling like that all week, boss? Does it hurt?”

Ana laughed again and Jack coughed to cover his own amusement.

“Not as much as it’s going to hurt when I smack you upside the head in a second, McCree.”

Jesse raised his hands in surrender, although he had his usual shit-eating grin. He went quiet and let Gabriel go back to typing away. A little while later, Jesse’s phone dinged and he spent some time messaging back and forth before the cowboy looked up.  “ _Jefe_ , op in India went without a hitch. Had a few injuries with the team, nothing major… but looks like we busted up that trafficking ring for good! Took the bosses alive, even.”

Gabriel grunted without looking up. Jesse deflated just a little bit and went silent, but after a few minutes, the older man looked up finally. “That was really good work, McCree.”

Jack and Ana shared a knowing look as Jesse sat up with a grin and a bit of a flush to his cheeks. As far as Jack knew, Gabriel hadn’t involved himself at all with the operation, making this Jesse’s first time commanding a Blackwatch mission from HQ, which in some ways was harder and more frustrating than actually being on the field. Plus, due to the slippery nature of their targets, everything had happened so fast, upping the potential for disaster.

Jesse was all but preening at the praise from his mentor, reminding Jack just how young the cowboy still was.

If Gabriel noticed Jesse’s pride, he gave no indication of it. He switched subjects entirely. “Prime Minister Tanaka wants to meet up to discuss my proposal for dealing with Japan’s yakuza problem. Tomorrow, so don’t think you’re going to be sightseeing in Manhattan. This is important.”

Jesse hesitated. “You want me there? Like when you talk to the Prime Minister?” He sounded surprised and a little awed.

Gabriel raised his brows. “Yeah? Is that a problem?”

“Naw!” If Jesse were a bird, his feathers would be puffed way out by now with pride. “That’s great! But umm… can I sightsee on Sunday? I ain’t never been to New York before…”

“You know we’re not on vacation, right?” Gabriel growled, but when Jesse gave him a wide-eyed puppy dog look, he relented. “Fine. But you’ll have to book a commercial redeye back to Zürich, because I’m not paying for you to stay another night at the Ritz, and I expect you to be back at base on Monday.”

 _You are such a big softie, Mr. Badass Black Ops Commander,_ Jack thought to himself fondly, eyeing his husband with a slight smile. Ana chuckled.  

“You got it, boss!”

The rest of the flight passed uneventfully, although Arjun forwarded one more call, which still caused McCree to stare blankly at Gabriel.

 ****

The rest of the day was a blur of meetings, dignitaries, photo ops, and Jack’s big hopeful speech in front of millions of people as it was broadcast by cameras around the world, followed by the usual annoying and grueling Q&A with reporters. The entire day, Gabriel followed Jack around, largely ignoring the meetings they were in because he was glued to his phone and tablet, keeping track of messages and emails meant for Jack but that he didn’t have time to pay attention to. It vaguely fascinated Jack that much like the budget meeting early that week, people didn’t seem to recognize Gabriel at all.

At least, not until the black tie gala in the evening. Probably because that was the point at which Personal Assistant Gabriel turned off. Instead of following Jack around, Gabriel spent most of the gala near the bar with McCree and Ana, and not because of the alcohol but because none of them really wanted to schmooze with politicians more than they had to. Gabriel must have been exhausted by then, because he was exuding his typical “Back Off” glower that most people would recognize these days from the standoffish war hero, and Ana and Jesse were shamelessly using him as a buffer from having to do any real socializing themselves. Jack kind of envied their ability to be wall flowers. He didn’t have that kind of luxury, and it was exhausting. He did catch Gabriel watching him, though, a few times when Jack happened to glance his way. The expression on his husband’s face was neither heated nor annoyed; in fact, to Jack, it seemed more thoughtful. He filed that away as curious.

By the time they headed to the hotel, Jack was having waking dreams about a long hot shower and some much-deserved cuddle time with his husband. It felt good to slam the door shut behind himself, shutting out the world that demanded Strike Commander Morrison’s time nonstop. Gabriel had walked into the room ahead of him, pieces of his suit already being tossed carelessly aside.

“Looks like you have a secret admirer, Jack. Should I be concerned?” Gabriel called from the bedroom of the luxurious suite.

Jack yawned as he trudged towards the bedroom. “Well I have a lot of admirers, both secret and not. The ring doesn’t seem to deter anyone no matter how many times reporters ask about my ‘secret spouse.’ Maybe you _should_ be worried,” he replied tiredly. “Although, let’s be real, I don’t have the time or energy to fuck around with anyone else, even if I wanted to.”

Gabriel laughed. “That’s refreshingly honest. Who would send you a dozen red roses? That seems intimate.”

Jack had only just entered the bedroom and he stopped and blinked for a moment, before he suddenly remembered and mentally smacked himself for being an idiot. “I don’t know,” he said, trying to sound casual. “What does the card say?”

There was a bouquet resting on the luxurious white and red duvet, and next to it, a silver tray with a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries. On one of the nightstands was an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne, and two crystal flutes.

“Mmm, strawberries, your admirer has good taste,” Gabriel said as he lifted the bouquet of roses and plucked the white card off. He flipped it over and glanced at the writing, then did a double take and read it again. “You got me roses? And strawberries?”

“Yeah, so I guess _your_ admirer has good taste, huh?” Jack said, grinning a little sheepishly. He felt a touch embarrassed now, wondering if this display was too much. He couldn’t read Gabriel’s expression right then. It was kind of blank. “I just… wanted to show my appreciation for what you put up with this week, even if… I don’t quite understand why you did it. Even if it was meant to be a joke or whatever. It was nice to get to see you every day, for once, and for someone who isn’t really a people person, per se, you were great.”

Gabriel blinked at him for a moment, his expression still blank. Finally he cleared his throat. “Is that what you think? That I did this as a joke?” He was holding the roses against his chest.

Jack shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other. “I admit I thought it was that on the first day, and I played along. But I was less sure every day, and after my blow-up on Wednesday, I was really confused when you came back on Thursday. So I… I don’t know why you did it.”

Another blink. “You could have just asked.”

“Yeah… I should have.” He could almost hear Ana huffing at him. “So I’m asking now. Why?”

Gabriel took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Do you remember what we fought about a few weeks ago?”

Jack frowned. He hadn’t thought about since then, but almost immediately one accusation Gabriel had thrown at him at the time came to him in sudden clarity. “You said it seemed like I loved my stupid job more than I loved you. That Overwatch was more important than us.”

Gabriel shifted his weight from one foot to the other then, the first sign of nervousness. He looked down at the roses. “Yeah… so uhh… that was an asshole thing to say, and totally unfair. A fact which Ana made clear to me later. Cuz, you know… I sort of convinced you to take this job, even though you didn’t really want it. I was happy you took it because it meant I could keep doing what I was good at while you ran interference for me.” He looked up from the flowers.

“Gabe—” Jack started. His heart was starting to feel too big for his chest.

“Stop. Let me finish before you say anything.” Gabriel sighed. “I meant what I said back then, Jackie… you were always going to be better at this job than me. Ana suggested it would do me some good to see firsthand what it’s actually taking out of you. We talked to Sarah, who was really gracious about making this work and helping us pick a week you weren’t traveling much. Which is why I gave her the trip to Tahiti. She went above and beyond to prepare me for this.” He cleared his throat, shifted the flowers again, looked back down at them. Jack thought his cheeks were getting a little rosy, though it was hard to tell with his darker skin. “So, why did I do this? Because I needed to remind both of us that I… really… appreciate you, Jack, and I admire how you juggle so much and do it so well. You are... _incredible_ at this job. And I am grateful that even after all these years, you still have my back." He hesitated. "Also I was kind of hoping that you’d remember you have someone at home who’d like to see you at least sometimes outside of your office and your Strike Commander persona?”

Jack was struck silent for a long moment. Finally, he cleared his throat. “But you were still angry at me this week. When I wouldn’t come home for dinner. I mean you had a right to be—” Inwardly he cringed, because maybe this wasn’t what his first response should have been.

“No. No!” Gabriel paused and rubbed a hand over his face and over his hair. “I kind of really hate what this job is doing to you. To us. Not just your job, mine too. I can be gone for weeks and months at a time, which sucks, but when I get back, you might as well be on another planet anyway. I was angry but not at you. I was pissed off at all the people making these demands from you, like nobody cares that you’re being pulled in a thousand different directions every day. I’m frustrated, because I don’t know what to do to make it easier.”

 _That’s why he didn’t yell at me yesterday when we almost fought,_ Jack thought to himself. _He wasn’t actually angry at me._ Outwardly he let out a deep breath. “Gabe.” He stepped closer now, until only the roses and their fragrant scent were between them. “No one forced me to take this job. I didn’t want it at first, it’s true, but then I realized something. We’ve always been better as a team, since the beginning, since SEP. Watching your back is literally what I’ve done my whole adult life and doing this job now lets me do that still. Yes, it takes a lot out of me and there are days where I hate it. It takes a lot out of _us_  and I really hate that _._ But I believe in what we're doing. You’re doing good out there, and I’m doing good where I am, and we’re doing it together.” He reached out and took his husband’s hand, squeezing it gently. “But I know I need to make more of an effort to make time for us.”

“ _And_ take care of yourself,” Gabriel interjected.

Jack sighed. “And take care of myself. I promise I will try. On both those things.”

Gabriel nodded. “Okay. And I promise to try to be less of an asshole about things beyond your control.” He brought the flowers up and took a deep breath, inhaling their sweet fragrance. “I can’t believe you got me roses. You are such a sap, Morrison.”

Now Jack knew for sure Gabriel was blushing. He just chuckled. “They left a vase for you over there, it looks like. Hurry up and take care of these. I’m going to start a hot shower. You can join me if you want. And then, I want you naked on the bed. I plan on feeding you strawberries. And after that… hmm, who knows?”

“You know, that all sounds like a good plan, but maybe I should go and block out your calendar for tonight, make sure we’re not interrupted by some emergency meeting or something,” Gabriel replied with a grin.

Jack gave a small growl and yanked on his dress shirt, pulling him close, the roses going behind Gabriel’s back so they wouldn’t get crushed. “Shut the fuck up, Reyes. A second Omnic Crisis couldn’t interrupt this evening for me.” He kissed his husband fiercely, hungrily, and when the hunger was reciprocated, the warmth in his heart spread to his belly.

They didn’t get much sleep that night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Por qué no los dos - Why not both? For you non Spanish speakers out there, this isn't really the proper way to say this (you should say, por qué no ambos), but in the 2010s became famous because of that dank meme (lol) with the little girl. Yes, Gabriel totally just dropped a really old meme (for him, in the 2040s) on our unsuspecting asses. #sorrynotsorry


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah's back! Yay!

It was nearly 8am on Monday when Jack and Gabriel approached the office, with Gabriel back in his typical Blackwatch getup: unfairly tight dark blue pants, a dark hoodie with the Blackwatch and Overwatch logos on either shoulder, his heavy boots, and of course, signature beanie. Jack already kind of missed the tailored suits. Although honestly, he thought Gabriel looked delicious in anything he wore.

They found Ana, Arjun, and Daniela crowding around Sarah’s desk, ooing and aahing over pictures, presumably, on her monitor. Sarah was chattering happily about her trip, although Jack couldn’t actually see her yet thanks to the press of bodies around her. But Ana heard them coming and she straightened and gave them both a knowing look, stepping aside and catching the attention of the others.

“Welcome back, Sarah,” Jack said.

Sarah, a slender and beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair and who was always impeccably dressed in a pencil skirt and heels and a blazer with the Overwatch logo on it, looked up from her monitor, interrupting herself with a bit of a squeal and was on her feet in an instant. Normally she was a calm and collected presence next to the Strike Commander, but today she was bubbly and positively glowing. She pushed past Arjun and much to everyone’s surprise instantly threw her arms around Gabriel in a fierce hug.

“Thank you sooo much, Commander!” While her London accent was normally subdued, in her unusual excitement it seemed particularly prevalent.

“You’re welcome? I guess this is about Tahiti?” Gabriel asked, still sounding surprised. He did return her hug at least. “That’s quite a tan you’re sporting, Sarah.”

“Yes! I can’t begin to tell you what a dream it was! Tahiti, it’s a magical place!” Sarah replied happily, finally letting him go and backing off a step. She glanced at the clock on the wall and her eyes widened. “My goodness, you’re a bit later than usual, Strike Commander!”

“Oh, we went and had breakfast this morning,” Jack replied somewhat sheepishly.

Sarah gave first him and then Gabriel an incredulous look, but then she smiled. “That’s wonderful!” She paused and eyed the Blackwatch Commander, her voice changing to mildly scolding, her hands on her hips. “What did you do last week, Commander Reyes?” When he gave her a questioning and somewhat nervous look, she just smiled again. “Ellie in London sent me an email this morning asking, and I quote, if that ‘Gabriel fellow with the hot voice’ was cute and single. And Miss Minerva wants to know if you were a temp and if she could hire you now that I’m back. And I’ve had a few other emails about ‘your replacement with the nice voice.’ Should I be worried about my job security?”

Everyone burst into laughter, while Gabriel let out a suffering sigh. “I already told Minerva she couldn’t afford me.”

“Sarah, did you tell Ellie that he was cute and openly about as straight as a circle?” Ana said dryly.

“You think I’m cute?” Gabriel said with a grin, causing her to chuckle in response. “Anyway, Sarah, your job is secure. Trust me.”

The young woman chuckled. She sobered a moment later. “Listen, everyone. I have some news.” She cleared her throat and looked a little nervous. “The second day I was in Tahiti, I woke terribly ill, and I thought I might have eaten something that didn't agree. It went away, so we went about our day. But the third morning I woke up sick again—”

“Oh, my god!” Daniela interrupted, then slapped a hand over her mouth, while Ana simply chuckled.

Sarah shot them both glares before continuing with her story. “I went to the hotel nurse, and well, as you’ve no doubt guessed by now… I am pregnant. I came straight here after my flight yesterday and Dr. Zeigler was gracious enough to see me, and well… I’m eight weeks along!”

The crowd of them erupted into a chorus of _Congratulations,_ and _that’s wonderful_ and Daniela gave Sarah a delighted hug.

“Miss Ana, this is my first, and I’m terribly nervous! Do you think I could ask you for advice…” Sarah started.

Ana smiled. “Of course, dear, but don’t worry about a thing. You’re a healthy young woman, and you have the best sort of career possible to make for a comfortable pregnancy.”

“Yeah, at least you won’t be sniping omnics until the contractions start,” Gabriel said, smirking at Ana, who playfully swatted at his arm.

“Oh my god, did you really?” Sarah asked, sounding both horrified and impressed at once.

“Commander Reyes is exaggerating,” Ana sighed. She paused. “I stopped sniping three days before Fareeha decided she was ready.”

“Only because I called off the mission, since my goddamn sniper was about ready to pop,” Gabriel added. “Crazy woman, she kept insisting she was fine to keep going on these missions, until I finally found out her due date, which she refused to tell me herself.”

“Reinhardt is a traitor and I am never telling him another secret ever again,” Ana muttered.

“I am feeling… a wee bit inadequate, I must admit. I was afraid to get on a ruddy plane to come home, for fear it might do something to the baby. But you fought a war while pregnant!” Sarah murmured. Daniela and Arjun were staring at Ana with quite a bit of awe.

Jack chuckled. “Don’t, Ana Amari is a special kind of crazy. We all were, really. You’re fine, Sarah. Take care of yourself, don’t let me overwork you, and take whatever time you need, okay?”

“Thank you, Commander, you’re very kind. My husband and I, we were thinking that I might take six months of maternity leave once the baby arrives. I know that’s a lot, but well,” she turned to look at Gabriel with a brilliant sunny smile, “since it looks like everything went without a hitch last week, maybe Commander Reyes would like to replace me during that time.”

Ana and Jack burst into laughter, while Gabriel glanced at the clock. “Oh, hey, look at the time… I’m late for a very important meeting with the Strike Commander! Talk to you all later, congratulations, glad you enjoyed Tahiti, and welcome back, Sarah!” He all but bolted for Jack’s office, even as everyone else started laughing too. Jack’s superior hearing picked up his grumbling as he went, “…six months, shit, my face hurt after a week, and if I never have to answer another stupid phone again it’ll be too soon… fuck that…”

Still chuckling, Jack followed him into his office, shutting the door behind himself because they actually did have a meeting scheduled to discuss an upcoming Blackwatch mission in Peru. “I don’t know, Gabe, maybe you should consider it. I could probably make it worth your while. The pay is decent, and as you are intimately aware, the benefits _package_ is second to none.”

Gabriel groaned. "Oh my fucking god, Jack, did you seriously just make a pun about your package?" 

"No, that would be inappropriate in the workplace," Jack deadpanned. "So how about it? Six months as the Strike Commander's Personal Assistant?"

“Jackie, I love you and appreciate you, but… _hell no._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posting for this fandom, although lord knows I fell down this rabbit hole as a reader months ago. Comments are always appreciated. 
> 
> Sidenote: Yes, I took a lot of liberties with how I imagined things run in Overwatch. This was meant to be a fun piece, not a canon suggestion to Blizzard. Also, yes, in another life now thankfully over, I was an Executive Assistant, and trust me... one day you're serving coffee and bagels to assholes who are admiring your ass, and the next you're rubbing elbows at a gala with millionaire CEOs whose wives you've sent flowers to for birthdays for years. I tried to make it clear that Jack is a professional and he would NEVER have disrespectful thoughts about any employee, and that his thoughts were only going south specifically because it was his own husband (who is his equal in this organization, not his subordinate). Hopefully that comes across correctly. 
> 
> Tumblr: http://edgeladymusings.tumblr.com/  
> Twitter: @Tasali


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